Q. I have two kids going to college. I searched ways to make money online and all look like scams to me. Can you help me find a way to supplement my income?

A. There are many jobs you can do remotely or on your own time. You just need a smartphone, tablet or computer, a way to get online and the desire to make money. The jobs truly run the gamut. You can work as a customer service representative, take surveys, sell crafts, do odd jobs, evaluate search engine results, get paid to write or even earn a few bucks watching television. I have a comprehensive list of online opportunities on my website. Click here for 30 legitimate ways to earn money online.

Speed up a slow PC

Q. My PC is running really slowly. What can I do to fix it? Its only a year old but I am ready to throw it away!

Q. I am a doctor and I dont want patients to have my cellphone number. How can I call them without showing my number?

A. The temporary way of keeping your mobile number invisible from caller ID is as easy as 1-2-3. Actually, its more like *67, and its free. Dial that code before the phone number and it will temporarily deactivate caller ID. The process is a little more in depth if you want to disable the feature permanently. Just call your cellphone carrier and ask for a line block. Once its done, your phone number will never appear, no matter whom you call. Dont choose this option lightly, because it is permanent and irreversible. A better option is in your phones settings. Click here to learn how to hide your cellphone number so people wont see it when you call.

Find hidden indoor cameras

Q. We are renting a home this summer. I am concerned about hidden cameras. Where might they be and how do I find them?

A. The laws vary from state to state. In general, landlords can put up cameras outdoors and in public spaces, but they can’t put them up, visible or hidden, where a reasonable person would expect to have privacy, such as in a bathroom or bedroom. (Audio recording has much stricter rules than video. In many states both parties need to be aware that the recording is taking place.) Special RF detectors can help you find the cameras. Click here for ways to spot and disable indoor and outdoor surveillance cameras.

Rental car mistake

Q. I heard you mention on your national radio show a mistake that people are making when renting cars this summer. It had to do with your phone. Can you please tell me more?

A. When you pair your phone to a rental car using Bluetooth, the car stores your phone number to make it easier to connect later. It also stores your call logs, and possibly even your contacts, which you dont want sitting around for the next renter. Go into the cars settings (it will vary by car model) and delete your smartphone from the list of paired Bluetooth gadgets. That should wipe your call log and contacts. If it doesn’t, look for an option to clear user data or do a factory reset. Talk to the employees at the car rental place if you can’t find these options.

Of course, there is nothing new about fake news as such the satirical site The Onion has long done this. Fake news satire is part of Saturday Night Lives Weekend Update and The Daily Show.

In these cases, the framework of humor is clear and explicit. That, however, is not the case in social media, which has emerged as a real news source. Pew Research Center reports that Facebook is the most popular social media platform and that a majority of U.S. adults 62 percent get news on social media. When people read fake news on social media, they may be tricked into thinking they are reading real news.

Both Google and Facebook have promised to take measures to address the concerns of fake news masquerading as real news. A team of college students has already developed a browser plug-in called FiB to help readers identify on Facebook what is fake and what is real.

But these steps dont go far enough to address fake news.

The question then is: Can we better prepare ourselves to challenge and reject fabrications that may easily circulate as untruthful texts and images in the online world?

As scholars of library and information science, we argue that in todays complex world, traditional literacy, with its emphasis on reading and writing, and information literacy the ability to search and retrieve information are not enough.

What we need today is metaliteracy an ability to make sense of the vast amounts of information in the connected world of social media.

Why digital literacy is not enough

Students today are consumers of the latest technology gadgets and social media platforms. However, they dont always have a deep understanding of the information transmitted through these devices, or how to be creators of online content.

Researchers at Stanford University recently found that when it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, todays digital natives, despite being immersed in these environments, are easily duped by misinformation.

They said they were taken aback by students lack of preparation and argued that educators and policymakers must demonstrate the link between digital literacy and citizenship.

The truth is that we live in a world where information lacks traditional editorial mechanisms of filter. It also comes in various styles and forms it could range from digital images to multimedia to blogs and wikis. The veracity of all this information is not easily understood.

This problem has been around for a while. In 2005, for example, a false story about a political figure, John Seigenthaler Sr., was posted by an anonymous author on Wikipedia, implicating him in the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. Seigenthaler challenged this fake entry and it was eventually corrected. Several other hoaxes have circulated on Wikipedia over the years, showing how easy it is to post false information online.

Indeed, in 2007, FactCheck.org, a website that monitors the accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players, urged readers to ask critical questions in response to a false story that had been placed about House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. At the time, people were being misled into believing that Pelosi was proposing a tax on retirement funds and others to help illegal immigrants and minorities.

Digital literacy supports the effective use of digital technologies, while metaliteracy emphasizes how we think about things. Metaliterate individuals learn to reflect on how they process information based on their feelings or beliefs.

To do that, first and foremost, metaliterates learn to question sources of information. For example, metaliterate individuals learn to carefully differentiate among multiple sites, both formal (such as The New York Times or Associated Press) and informal (a blog post or tweet).

Metaliterates learn to question the sources of information.Jon S, CC BY

They question the validity of information from any of these sources and do not privilege one over the other. Information presented on a formal TV news source, such as CNN or Fox News, for instance, may be just as inaccurate as someones blog post. This involves understanding all sources of information.

Second, metaliterates learn to observe their feelings when reading a news item.

We are less inclined to delve further when something affirms our beliefs. On the other hand, we are more inclined to fact check or examine the source of the news when we dont agree with it. Thinking about our own thinking reminds us that we need to move beyond how we feel, and engage our cognitive faculties in doing a critical assessment.

Metaliterates pause to think whether they believe something because it affirms their ideas.

Metaliteracy challenges assumptions

Metaliteracy helps us understand the context from which the news is arising, noting whether the information emanates from research or editorial commentary, distinguishing the value of formal and informal news sources and evaluating comments left by others.

By reflecting on the way we are thinking about a news story, for instance, we will be more apt to challenge our assumptions, ask good questions about what we are reading and actively seek additional information.

Consider the recent example of how fake news was put out through a single tweet and believed by thousands of readers online. Eric Tucker, a 35-year-old cofounder of a marketing company in Austin, Texas, tweeted that anti-Trump protesters were professionally organized and bused to Trump rallies. Despite having only 40 Twitter followers, this one individual managed to start a conspiracy theory. Thousands of people believed and forwarded the tweet.

This example shows how easy it is to transmit information online to a wide audience, even if it is not accurate. The combination of word and image in this case was powerful and supported what many people already believed to be true. But it also showed a failure to ask critical questions within an online community with shared ideas or to challenge ones own beliefs with careful reflection.

In other words, just because information is shared widely on social media, that does not mean it is true.

Developing deeper understanding

Another emphasis of metaliteracy is understanding how information is packaged and delivered.

Packaging can be examined on a number of fronts. One is the medium used is it text, photograph, video, cartoon, illustration or artwork? The other is how it is used is the medium designed to appeal to our feelings? Does professional-looking design provide a level of credibility to the unsuspecting viewer?

Social media makes it easy to produce and distribute all kinds of digital content. We can all be photographers or digital storytellers using online tools for producing and packaging well-designed materials. This can be empowering.

But the same material can be used to create intentionally false messages with appealing design features. Metaliterates learn to distinguish between formal and informal sources of information that may have very different or nonexistent editorial checks and balances.

They learn to examine the packaging of content. They learn to recognize whether the seemingly professional design may be a faade for a bias or misinformation. Realnewsrightnow, for example, is a slickly designed site with attention-grabbing but often false headlines. The About page of the website might raise questions, but only if a readers mindset is evaluative.

Becoming a responsible citizen

Because social media is interactive and collaborative, the metaliterate learner must know how to contribute responsibly as well.

Metaliterate individuals recognize there are ethical considerations involved when sharing information, such as the information must be accurate. But there is more. Metaliteracy asks that individuals understand on a mental and emotional level the potential impact of ones participation.

So, metaliterate individuals dont just post random thoughts that are not based in truth. They learn that in a public space they have a responsibility to be fair and accurate.

So how can we become metaliterate?

Schools need to urge students to ponder these questions. Students need to be made aware of these issues early on so that they learn how not to develop uncritical assumptions and actions as they use technology.

They need to understand that whether they are posting a tweet, blog, Facebook post or writing a response to others online, they need to think carefully about what they are saying.

While social media offers much promise for providing everyone with a voice, there is a disturbing downside to this revolution. It has enabled sharing of misinformation and false news stories that radically alter representations of reality.

Investing used to be fun. There was that greedy voice in our heads saying: “Trust your gut! Take a risk!”

Then it all got ruined by the one-two punch of a tech bust and the worst recession in a lifetime. Suddenly, we were supposed to be sober: Who are we to bet our retirement on our skills as day traders? Calm down. Diversify. Lock your savings up in index funds, wait a few decades, and hope you can retire.

That approachso smart, so boringis enough for millions of people wounded by the financial crisis. But what about the next generation of investors, for whom Pets.com and Lehman Brothers are childhood memories?

The Stash app.

Source: Stash

A fast-growing app called Stash is trying to make money by making investing enjoyable again. Its co-founders, Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson, say they can do that without inspiring their customers, most of them millennials, to do anything too stupid.

Stash, which celebrates its first birthday on Friday, has signed up 215,000 users and is adding more than 10,000 a week, putting it on track to double its users in the next six months. Many of these investors are beginners without much money to spare. While other investing options require thousands of dollars to start, you can open a Stash account with five bucks.

That makes the app accessible to people like Alejandro Acuna, a 22-year-old college student at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. He has a campus job that lets him put $5 a week in Stashwhat I pay for coffee, he said.

Its coming along, Acuna said of the $200 in his account. If I start right now, maybe later on in life it will take me somewhere.

While most traditional brokers assume you know the difference between a stock and a bond, a large cap and a small cap, Stash assumes its new clients know just about nothing. It offers only 36 investments, most of them exchange-traded funds, all renamed for beginning investors. Delicious Dividends is Stashs more appetizing name for the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. Roll With Buffett gives you a fractional share of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. That lets Stash’s investorsaverage age 28, 80 percent under 34invest alongside Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s 86-year-old chief executive officer.

Stash encourages people to invest in things they understand or care about: Clean & Green is the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF. Defending America is the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF. Social Media Mania gives you the Global X Social Media Index ETF, with its healthy chunks of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Betting a lot on hot social media or solar companies might sound like a classic investing mistake from the old days. Wouldnt it be more responsible to put everyone into an index fund, as other robo-advisers do?

We think its important for users to make a choice, Krieg said. Letting investors choose gets them engaged and excited, prompting them to save more and learn more about how investing really works, he said. Theyre getting off the sidelines and into the markets.

When Vivienne Peng, 26, decided she wanted to invest some money outside her retirement account, she wasnt sure how to do it.

I didnt know anything, so it was very intimidating to me, said Peng, who lives in Brooklyn and works at a nonprofit group. Stash is almost like a game, she said. They kind of hold your hand through the process.

Peng automatically withdraws $20 a week from her bank account and, after 10 months, has about $600 in Stash, which includes Roll With Buffett (Ive always heard my parents talk about Buffett) and Modern Meds, a biotech ETF. Her second-biggest investment is now Aggressive Mix, a diversified blend of bonds and international and domestic stocks that Stash recommended to her.

After users sign up and fill out a short questionnaire, the app encourages them to buy Aggressive Mix or two other diversified ETFs, one moderate and one conservative, which are similar to the offerings at other robo-advisers and in 401(k) target-date funds. Pop-up notifications on the app, which is currently available only on mobile devices, tell them that the recommended investments are a good way to diversify.

We cant force them, co-founder Robinson said. We have to guide them. He said it’s working because, while Stash users are young, theyre very cautious with their money. The three ETFs are Stashs most popular investments. Theres also an appetite on Stash for even more conservative investments such as Uncle Sam, an ETF of super-safe U.S. Treasuries, and Public Works, a municipal bond ETF.

With $12.25 million in venture capital funding and 25 employees, Stash is run out of a one-room office a short walk from the Flatiron Building in New York. It makes money by charging users $1 a month, or 0.25 percent per year on accounts over $5,000. The first three months are free.

Robinson, 33 and from Sydney, met Krieg, a 42-year-old from New York, when they were both working at Macquarie Group, the global investment bank based in Australia. At one point, Robinson said, I used to not pick up the phone for a less-than-$10 million order.

Things are a little different now. The money comes to Stash in batches of $20 or $30 at a time, not unlike donations to Bernie Sanders. The company says it has received 750,000 individual bank transfers over the past year. Stash declined to disclose the size of the assets it manages.

The average Stash user earns $45,000 a year. Common employers include Wal-Mart, Uber, the U.S. Postal Service, and, especially the U.S. military, with service members making up one in eight users. The app seems to spread by word of mouth on bases, ships, and even submarines, Robinson said.

Darrin Graham, a 25-year-old soldier, puts about $25 a week in his Stash account and has two Army buddies who use the app. Like Peng, Graham has a separate retirement account, through the military. He thinks of his Stash account, now with $620, as play money, an affordable way to learn about investing.

At first, he said, he made mistakes, picking Stash ETFs based solely on past performance, selling when they dropped, and then missing out on their recoveries. He’s learning patience, he said. I was just a little too quick to give up.

Additional startup investing services are accessible to a younger audience without many resources. Robinhood offers free stock trading with no account minimums. Motif Investing, which requires a $300 investment to start, lets users buy small baskets of stocks and ETFs based on a theme, for a flat $10 commission. These apps are designed mostly for amateur traders.

This is not a trading app, Robinson said emphatically. The Stash app has a “Learn” section with articles on dividends, the power of compounding, and ways to invest in stocks and bonds. It occasionally intervenes to keep its clients from buying high and selling low. For example, on the morning in June after the U.K. unexpectedly voted to leave the European Union, stocks were plunging. Stash sent a notification to users warning of the turmoil and added:

This is an opportunity to keep adding to your Stash at lower prices. Remember youre in this for the long term. Users responded by putting $325,000 into their accounts, about four times the inflow on a typical day back then.

Peng had tried other investing apps. She felt they were aimed at someone who actually knows what theyre doing.

The irony is that many of Stashs users are too young to have learned what many of us learned in the dark days of 2008: When it comes to investing, hardly anyone knows what theyre doing. The best you can do is make an educated guess, save diligently, hope for the best, and maybe have a bit of fun along the way.

Donald Trump will remain an executive producer on the new iteration of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, Mashable has confirmed even after the president-elect takes office.

The show will premiere on Jan. 2 with Arnold Schwarzenegger replacing Trump as host. The new season will run for eight episodes. According to Variety, who first broke the news of Trump’s continued involvement with the reality competition, Trump’s name will appear in the show’s credits after Apprentice creator Mark Burnett’s, and before Schwarzenegger, who is also an executive producer on the new season.

Trump’s transition spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, has told members of the press that “Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with Mark Burnett. Additional details regarding his business interests will be shared December 15th.”

Hope Hicks: ‘Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with Mark Burnett. 1/2

Variety reports that Trump is also a profit participant on the lucrative Apprentice franchise, a format which has been sold around the world in numerous markets, and will continue to be paid for his involvement with the series through production company MGM.

NBC previously announced that they were cutting ties with Trump in June 2015 following controversial statements Trump made during his campaign announcement, in which he called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and criminals.

Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump, NBC said in a statement at the time. At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.

NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt reiterated that stance in January 2016 at the bi-annual Television Critics Association winter press tour, when reporters pressed him on NBC’s decision to have Trump host an episode of Saturday Night Live.

“We had a couple businesses that we were doing with him, Apprentice and the [Miss USA and Miss Universe] pageants. We got out of that business, got out of both of those businesses, and that was June, July, when most of us thought he would be sort of waltzing into the background of the political arena,” Greenblatt told reporters. “And lo and behold, hes the front-runner, and the poll numbers are sort of astounding, and hes everywhere. Hes on every news show, every morning show, every nightly show, every cable news show. Hes been on Colbert. Hes been on Fallon. He was on SNL, and I think that reconciles quite easily with were not in business with him, but hes love it or not one of the most important political figures of our time.”

Trump then hit back at NBC in a statement to Mashable, saying the network was “weak, and like everybody else is trying to be politically correct.”

“Thanks to Mark Burnett, we dont have to watch reality shows anymore, we are living in one.”

“Thanks to Mark Burnett, we dont have to watch reality shows anymore, we are living in one,” Kimmel said during his monologue. “If Donald Trump gets elected and builds that wall, the first person we are throwing over it is Mark Burnett.”

In October, Burnett issued a statement that he was unable to release such material even if it did exist, and further tried to distance himself from Trump’s campaign: “Given all of the false media reports, I feel compelled to clarify a few points. I am not now and have never been a supporter of Donald Trumps candidacy. I am NOT ‘Pro-Trump.’ Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign.

Earlier this week, however, Trump met with Burnett and Thomas Barrack Jr. to discuss plans for his inauguration, according to the New York Times:

Despite the modest nature of the events under consideration, Mr. Barrack said Mr. Burnett was actively involved in producing the inauguration week festivities. He will have a large team to work with, as the committees staff in Washington is expected to swell to more than 300 people by Inauguration Day.

Mark is a genius, and the president-elect loves him, Mr. Barrack said. Referring to the Tuesday meeting, he said, This was about throwing stuff out if you are thinking in the frame of mind of what a global audience would see.

For his part, Schwarzenegger former governor of California and a self-proclaimed Republican, announced that he would not vote for Trump or support his candidacy, noting, “As proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else American. So I want to take a few moments today to remind my fellow Republicans that it is not only acceptable to choose your country over your party it is your duty.”

More states are trying to make money off of Airbnb now that it seems here to stay.

Image: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images

Most cities and states have accepted they won’t be able to get rid of Airbnb though not for lack of trying. Now that the home-sharing site is here to stay, a few states are at least trying to make some money off of it.

New Jersey is the latest state to try to impose taxes on Airbnb, which is not subject to the same taxes and fees as hotels and motels. In the Garden State, members of the assembly want to extend the 7 percent sales tax and 5 percent transient accommodation fee long in place at hotels to “short-term rentals rented through a transient space marketplace,” aka Airbnb. The summertime legislative push comes during peak vacation rental season for the Jersey shore.

Like New Jersey, Massachusetts is trying to tax Airbnb, in this case with a 5.7 percent excise tax. The effort initially had the support of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker until he backtracked to maintain his fiscal-conservative cred.

In Hawaii, an effort to tax Airbnb came to a halt when the governor vetoed it.

As a whole, cities and states are accepting that Airbnb isn’t a fad and are moving toward finding the best way to live with the home-sharing company, rather than eliminate it.

If they can make money from its ubiquity, then even better. Forcing Airbnb to collect taxes on behalf of its hosts is the easiest way to do that.

“At a time when cities are working hard to stretch every dollar, Airbnb can be a valuable partner in strengthening city economies.”

So far, cities rather than states have seen the most success in taxing the company. About 200 cities worldwide have some sort of tax in place that applies to Airbnb.

Airbnb says that it will work with states on their legislative proposals.

“We support efforts that make it easier for our community to pay their fair share of taxes and look forward to working with the legislatures in Massachusetts and New Jersey to make this happen,” Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty said in a statement.

In June, Airbnb announced that it had collected $85 million in taxes from cities since 2014.

“At a time when cities are working hard to stretch every dollar, Airbnb can be a valuable partner in strengthening city economies. Weve worked together with cities around the world to collect and remit hotel, occupancy and tourist taxes on behalf of our hosts and guests,” the company wrote.

Airbnb has also said it would work to modify tax laws to better suit “regular people who share the home in which they live,” as the company puts it, rather than hotels.

And while the company touts its contribution to communities through its tax dollars, those tax dollars came out of contentious relationships.

San Francisco was one of the first cities to impose taxes on Airbnb, and since then the city and the company have sparred publicly over regulations. This June, Airbnb sued San Francisco over an ordinance that would fine hosts not registered with the city.

Chicago is even using the revenue from Airbnb’s taxes for its work on homelessness, a policy aligned with the criticism that Airbnb cuts into cities’ affordable housing.

Would You Even Consider This Crazy Trade Idea For The Cowboys?Blogging The Boys (blog)The only shot the Cowboys have at moving up to the number one spot in the draft would be to give up one of their best bargaining chips. by DannyPhantom@DannyPhantom24 Feb 21, 2017, 2:00pm CST. tweet · share · pin · Rec. Matthew Emmons-USA …